Heritage Register
Rockland
1368 Rockland Place (ex-1503 Rockland Av)
Fairholme, Menota
Built
1885
Heritage-Designated 2000
For: John & Sara Davie
Contractor: John Hill & Charles Conley
ARCHITECTURE:
One of the earliest estates on Rockland, this two-storey
house was constructed for $7,000 in the fashionable Italianate
style. Similar to the 1883 house at 146 Clarence St, James
Bay, Fairholme has a very shallow, hipped roof with eaves
supported by sandwich brackets, paired at the outer corners;
there are panels in the frieze between the brackets. It has
two main wings, each fronted by two-storey angled bays
with turned details on the corners and one-over-one double-hung
sashes with horns. The Rockland façade has a wide,
shallow full-height extension with two-over-two windows.
The horizontal is emphasized by a belt course and a water
table. The main entrance steps, on the St. Charles façade to
the left of the bay, lead to a verandah with a balcony above.
The slim chamfered verandah posts have sharp capitals
and delicately carved brackets that support the fascia of theverandah ceiling. The house is clad in drop siding; the rubble
stone foundation has ashlar quoins at the corners. It has two
brick chimneys, one with elaborate corbelling. The gabled
extension on the rear has grown over the years.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
1885-1906: Dr. John Chapman Davie (b. Wells,
Somerset, ENG 1845-1911) arrived in Victoria in 1862 on
the Anna Maria with his father, Dr. J.C. Davie, Sr, sister
Selina, and brothers Alexander and Theodore. Younger
brothers Horace and William came later and settled in
the Cowichan Valley. All brothers were educated at Eton
College in England. Alexander and Theodore studied law,
entered politics, and were BC premiers in 1887-89 and
1892-95, respectively. John graduated in medicine in San
Francisco at 21, and practised in Victoria for most of his
life. He worked with his father, then with Dr. J.S. Helmcken
(638 Elliot St, James Bay). He was known as “Shot Gun”
Davie because he took his gun along to shoot pheasant
when visiting patients in the country. John was the first
doctor at St. Joseph’s Hospital, and designer and planner of
the first Royal Jubilee Hospital. He is credited with bringing
modern medicine to Victoria, including the antiseptic
system developed by Pasteur and Lister, and reportedly
performed the first appendectomy in BC. In 1883 his
brother Prem. Theodore Davie appointed John as BC’s chief
medical health officer to deal with a smallpox epidemic,
which he quickly brought under control.
John married twice, first to San Francisco-born Kate
Thain in 1869. She died in 1881 at 29. John’s second
wife was Sara Holmes Todd, daughter of Anne Fox and
Jacob Hunter Todd (Harris Green history). [John and
Sara began courting before Kate died, and it was said that
a “broken heart” contributed to her early death.] John
married Sara in 1884, but she died of pneumonia in 1894
at 39. John moved to Oak Bay in 1906.
OTHER OCCUPANTS:
Owners: 1907-18: Frederick B. Warren and Violet
(née Gilmor, 1857-1937) came to BC in 1907 and called
the house Menota. Frederick was managing director of
Victoria & Vancouver Lime & Brick Co. The Warrens
moved to Vancouver in 1928.
1920-23: Barrister and
solicitor John Ronald Green.
1926-45: Journalist and
writer Arthur Stileman Averill (b. Sussex, ENG 1886-
1956) and Evelyn Alice (née Haines) converted it to the
six-suite Rockland Court in 1928. Arthur came to Canada
in 1907 and BC in 1919. In 1935 Evelyn took their son
John to school in England. She fell ill and died there in
1937. Arthur later married Helen Barbara LeBagge Welsh,
moved to Telegraph Bay Rd and retired in 1953.
1949-55:
Joseph A. and Gladys Holmes.
Tenants included: 1929-31: Architect John Graham Johnson (b. London, ENG 1882-1945) and Hilda
Constance (née Olds, 1880-1965). John came to Victoria
briefly in 1914, returned to Britain to serve in WWI, and
came back in 1920. In 1936, they moved into a house
designed by John below this property, now 620 Rockland
Pl.
1945-55: After John’s death, Hilda lived here again.
1933-40: Miss Jeanette Cann taught psychology and
English at Victoria College in Craigdarroch Castle.
1935-42: Louis Ramsbothan Davies (b. London, ENG
1885-1964) and Jennet Louisa (née Lawson, b. Victoria 1889-
1978) married here in 1915. Louis, who came here in 1914,
was a Canadian Hydrographic Service surveyor for 55 years.
1935-66: Robert Walker Shannon (b. Ireland 1857-1936)
and Emily Frances (née Sears, b. Kingston, ON 1876-1966)
came to Victoria in 1931. Robert came to Canada as a boy,
took law at Queen’s University and practised in the Yukon for
some years. He retired as Saskatchewan legislative counsel.
1939-40: Edward and Eva Kjekstad, both physiotherapists,
and their son Bernard, a student at Victoria College.
1943-58:
Herbert “Neville” Wright (b. Lancashire,
ENG 1881-1951) and Florence Isabel (née
Raddish, b. Liverpool, ENG 1890-1979)
came to Victoria in 1914. Herbert was BC’s
Deputy Minister of Finance for 34 years
until retiring in 1946. Florence later moved
to 906 Pemberton Rd, Rockland.
1946-54:
Retired railroader John Findlay Sweeting
(b. ENG 1872-1954) and Jessie Craven (née
Dickens, b. ENG 1883-1961). Jessie moved
to 906 Pemberton Rd after John’s death.
1948: Ethel Unwin was the resident building
manager (852 Pemberton Rd).
The house became a B&B in 1980.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:
• Map of Victoria's Heritage Register Properties
• Rockland History
• Rockland Heritage Register
• This Old House, Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods,
Volume Three: Rockland, Burnside, Harris Green,
Hillside-Quadra,
North Park & Oaklands
